This invention relates to an automatic taco machine, and, more particularly, to an apparatus which automatically stores, dispenses, and fills tacos.
Mexican restaurants traditionally offer tacos which are filled with a variety of ingredients, for example, ground beef, lettuce, and cheese. Tacos can be made from soft wheat flour tortillas or relatively rigid corn meal tortillas (taco shells) which hold the ingredients.
Heretofore, the tortillas and taco shells have generally been filled manually. Tortillas are conventionally packaged in a stack of 24 flat tortillas. Each tortilla is manually peeled from the stack, positioned on a holder or support, and filled with the desired ingredients. Taco shells are relatively rigid and generally U-shaped and may be supplied in a nested stack. Again, each taco shell is manually removed from the stack and filled.
Manual preparation of tacos is acceptable in a conventional full service, sit-down restaurant. However, fast-food restaurants are required to prepare food items quickly and inexpensively. Manual preparation of tacos is labor intensive, expensive, and relatively time-consuming. A definite need exists for an automated device for making tacos quickly and inexpensively.
Attempts have been made to automate the preparation of tacos. However, these attempts have not been entirely successful. Automated handling of soft tortillas is particularly difficult because the stack of tortillas must usually be kept warm and moist. The warm, moist tortillas have a tendency to stick together, and it is extremely difficult for a machine to remove a single tortilla from the stack without tearing the tortilla. The rigid taco shells are more easily separated than tortillas, but the taco shells are fragile and are subject to breaking when handled mechanically.
In order to provide maximum efficiency, it is desirable that an automated taco machine handle both soft tortillas and hard tortillas or taco shells. However, because of the different storage and handling requirements for soft, flexible tortillas and hard, relatively inflexible taco shells, no prior machines have been able to fill both tortillas and taco shells in a satisfactory manner.
Tacos usually contain both warm ingredients, e.g., ground beef, and cold ingredients, e.g., lettuce and cheese. An automatic taco-making machine must also be able to store and dispense both hot and cold ingredients.